Better punctuality and new trains improving overall satisfaction with Scotland’s railway

27 June 2019

Overall passenger satisfaction with ScotRail services rose to 85 per cent in  spring 2019 – up compared to spring 2018 (84 per cent) and up significantly with autumn 2018 (79 per cent), in latest results from the National Rail Passenger Survey.

Satisfaction with punctuality/reliability in Scotland rose to 76 per cent this spring, also up significantly compared to autumn 2018 (72 per cent) but still lower than the GB figure (77 per cent).

Launching the latest results for Scotland from the twice-yearly survey, Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent passenger watchdog Transport Focus said:

“ScotRail’s required focus on delivering timetable improvements and new trains whilst also improving punctuality is beginning to provide light at the end of the tunnel. However, there is still more to do and satisfaction among Scottish passengers has some way to go before it returns to previous high-levels.

“Passengers will now want to see this maintained and built upon so that a consistent high level of punctuality and reliability is delivered on a daily basis by ScotRail.

“Transport Focus also hopes that improvements in Scotland – along with those across other parts of the network – and the positive changes captured by the latest National Rail Passenger Survey are the start of a trend that signals the rebuilding of passenger trust in the railway.”

As noted when Transport Focus published the Autumn 2018 results, it is important that ScotRail’s Train Service Performance Remedial Plan delivers improved punctuality and reliability.

Since its inception, and during the Spring 2019 NRPS period, a promising start to the remedial plan has seen targets set by the plan reached. Passenger satisfaction must improve further before they will meet targets within the ScotRail franchise.

Notes to editors

The National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS), is one of the largest published passenger satisfaction surveys of rail passengers in the world.

In the latest survey – between 4 February and 14 April 2019 – Transport Focus surveyed 30,119 passengers.

Summary – overall satisfaction Spring 2019 National Rail Passenger Survey

Journey type Spring 2018 (% satisfied) Spring 2019 (% satisfied)
National (GB)  81  83
National – commuters  72  76
London and South East  79  83
Long distance  87  87
Regional  84  83

The highest ratings for overall satisfaction were achieved by Heathrow Express (95 per cent), Virgin Trains (91 per cent), Merseyrail (90 per cent), Hull Trains (90 per cent), and Chiltern Railways (90 per cent).

The lowest ratings for overall satisfaction were given to Great Northern (77 per cent), South Western Railway (78 per cent), Northern (78 per cent), Greater Anglia (80 per cent) and Southeastern (80 per cent).

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